Pistons vs Clippers: Lines Backs Los Angeles, You Should Too

Detroit Looks to Break Four-Game Losing Streak

November 17, 2022 106 2 minutes readNBA Picks & Parlays

Pistons vs Clippers Lines Backs Los Angeles, You Should Too — Tom Pennington/Getty Images/AFP

Pistons Not Firing
George or No George, Clippers Probably Better
Under Smelling Like a Rose

The Detroit Pistons hit the road and travel to Los Angeles for the first game of a six-game West Coast road trip. The next week is going to be brutal for the Pistons with games against the Clippers, Lakers, Kings, Nuggets, Jazz and Suns and two back-to-backs thrown in the mix.

Pistons Not Firing

The Pistons vs Clippers lines favors the home team by nine points, which makes sense when you look at Detroit’s recent record. They’ve recorded four-straight losses and are just 1-7 in their last eight games. The Pistons only have three total wins on the season, coming against the Magic, Warriors and Thunder.

The win over the Warriors might sound impressive, but Golden State has been pretty bad themselves to start the year. The Clippers come into this NBA matchup after a narrow loss to the Dallas Mavericks on the road. However, Los Angeles was down by as much as 25 in the first half before climbing back into that game. The total for this game sits at 217, up a point from where it opened at 216.

Game Information

Detroit Pistons (3-12) at Los Angeles Clippers (8-9)

Date, time (TV): Thursday, 10:30 PM ET
Location: Crypto.com Arena

George or No George, Clippers Probably Better

At first glance, the Pistons vs Clippers lines looks pretty sharp at -9 based on how both basketball teams have been playing as of late. However, Paul George is listed on the injury report for Thursday. If he isn’t able to play, then our NBA betting tips would be to take the value and the points with the Pistons. While Detroit has lost its last four games, its opponents have been pretty tough.

Their losses have come to Toronto, New York and Boston twice, who are the NBA points leaders. The Pistons were only blown out in one of their games against the Celtics, while the other three losses came by less than double digits. Yet, if George does play, laying the points with the Clippers is probably the right move when taking into account that Los Angeles is back home after a road trip and they played so poorly in the first half of their last game. Plus, the Pistons are just 2-13 against the spread this season, which is the worst mark in the league.

If you’d prefer to stay away from the Pistons vs Clippers line altogether, our advice would be to consider looking at the total and playing the under 217.

Under Smelling Like a Rose

This total probably looks a little low at first glance, especially knowing how bad the Pistons defense is, but when it comes to offense, neither team puts up a ton of points. Both teams are bottom six in the league in offensive rating. Los Angeles also ranks dead last in the league in points per game, NBA scoring just 104.9, and Detroit ranks third to last with 108.5.

We mentioned the Pistons defense isn’t great, but that’s not the case for the Clippers. Los Angeles ranks second in the league in defensive rating, meaning they are likely to make scoring pretty difficult for Detroit on Thursday. Los Angeles is also 3-12 to the under this season and 2-6 to the under at home, so we wouldn’t be surprised if this basketball game finished under 210.